It’s Possible

Is it possible that the rising global air temperatures support higher amounts of water vapor aloft which can add fuel and intensity to localized weather events? Anecdotal evidence from my experiences certainly aligns with that line of thinking.

Today, we are granted a calm before the expected weekend punch of significant new accumulations of heavy, wet snow. It’s hard to know what to do with such a day. We don’t feel inclined to start any new projects while consumed by this looming distraction of an “other shoe about to drop.”

Who can concentrate when meteorologists are tossing out phrases like, “thunder snow!”?

Snowfall rates may reach 2″ per hour for a few hours Saturday. Things could get crazy with lightning, thunder and snow coming down incredibly hard. If that happens, most of the accumulation could occur within just a few hours Saturday afternoon into evening.”

This storm sounds so intimidating, there was even a Minnesota Judge who issued a restraining order prohibiting any more snow in the state, “especially within Hennepin County.”

Of course, he was clear to communicate that this did not prohibit the storm from impacting Wisconsin, Iowa, or North and South Dakota. I suppose he did not want to seem to be ruling beyond his jurisdiction.

Weather forecasts being the educated guesses that they are, computer models show a possibility for some of Saturday’s precipitation to fall as rain, south of an indeterminate rain/snow dividing line. The restraining order doesn’t appear to include any provision for restricting rainfall.

Rain can really spoil a good snowscape, but if we get some of that, it will, at the very least, reduce the amount of plowing I would need to do.

2 Responses

As with most news/forecasts these days, they are to be taken with a pinch of salt. You know the comment: it may never happen, so why beat yourself up over all this. Take life as it comes; do what needs to be done and don’t waste your energy on ‘trumped up’ conceptions of the world. That said, it is all too easy to get drawn in; instead, look to the divine that you are made of and form part of – you will come out smiling and know infinite bliss, again and again, time and time again. Just look around… and be aware of the process you are part of and have been sharing.

I’ve been marveling this year over the increasingly impressive accuracy meteorological forecasts have demonstrated of late. Not only can they tell us what the high and low temperatures will be in a week’s time, they knew today’s storm was going to happen even before the energy was swirling in the states to our south and west.
Without their information, yesterday I would have had no clue about the wild weather energy headed our way today. It was so warm and sunny, it didn’t offer a hint of the change in store.
Thus far, as of noon our time, the winds have shifted and are blowing with surprising force, and the cloudy sky is thick with moisture. The temperature is warm enough right now that the beginning of today’s event will be more rain than snow, which will be messy, but that will reduce the amount of snow we do ultimately get.